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It is an objective fact that Jeff Rosenstock released one of the best albums of 2016, if not the best record of the year. WORRY is a work that exhibits all of the positive qualities of contemporary punk by one of the genre’s most consistently excellent and prolific performers over the last two decades. During that time, Rosenstock has been a virtually unlimited fount of quality music, having participated as band member, contributor or producer in something like thirty albums in the last fifteen years. But Rosenstock’s recent solo albums may be his highest quality output of his career. WORRY builds on the overwhelming success of his excellent 2015 album We Cool?. The fan response to it crashed the SideOneDummy Records website on the day of its release.

WORRY is album that walks the listener through a set of modern problems in a series of songs that touch on multiple genres all anchored by the indefatigable Jeff Rosenstock. Early in his career Rosenstock fronted a ska-punk band and then an anarchist-punk band but in his late thirties he’s now not beholden to any particular genre. The album touches on themes of loneliness, oppression, politics and music — all of which are pointless without our emotional investment in other people. Indeed “…While You’re Alive” concludes as the penultimate track on the record, by declaring that ultimately “Love is Worry”. We may never be able to achieve a perfect existence (“Perfect Sound Whatever”), but if we appreciate the small events, we’ll be truly alive. Its a simple but effective message from a performer who has spent his career confronting negativity and apathy with a singular work ethic and drive.

The Jeff Rosenstock Fall Tour came to a close on a cold November night in a converted warehouse in Brooklyn a mere ten days after perhaps the most devastating political moment of our lives. The final night of the tour was filled with much love and appreciation for the bands and fans who had supported him throughout, but the night was also fueled by purposeful rage and resistance. Rosenstock dealt with these issues throughout the set but also focused on the healing power of music. The set drew primarily from We Cool? and WORRY material, including an epic segue of the last eleven songs from WORRY to close the set. The band encored with “Police on My Back”, which Rosenstock unfortunately noted as a Clash song. Perhaps the only down moment of the night was that he failed to call attention to the composers of that song, The Equals — a 1960s racially-integrated London band who experienced actual police oppression of immigrant culture. Its a theme sadly still relevant nearly fifty years after the release of that song. Otherwise, the night was an inspiration and Jeff Rosenstock continues to cement his status as perhaps the most important punk artist composing today. Moving forward through 2017 and after, we’re going to need artists like Rosenstock whose life’s work is hell bent on resisting the wave of hate and intolerance bubbling up from the worst aspects of our society.

I recorded this set with the Neumann hypers mounted at the soundboard on the far right and mixed with a board feed. The balance and mix took a while the get right but I believe this is now an excellent recording that definitely captures the energy of that great night. Enjoy!

The Shine A Light Music Festival took place a few weeks back, and we’ve already posted the Luna reunion (here). As our regular readers are aware, The War On Drugs is one of my favorite current bands. The addition of this set to the site is by no means an afterthought, but the result of a discovery. Due to technical problems, I had written this recording off as a non-post, but after a re-listen and re-evaluation this week, the sound quality is far above what I expected. The show was also something special. The War On Drugs arrived early at the gig and had already soundchecked by the time I got there and set up. The band was interacting and mingling with all of the members of the Tommy Brull Foundation for several hours before their set, so that by the time they took the stage The War On Drugs felt like they were playing to friends. The show contained a nice mix of their material, but also some entertaining banter, a “guest” guitarist, and even some gentle ribbing of nyctaper.

I recorded this show with the Sennheiser 8040’s on-stage and running through the snake and mixed with a board feed. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the phantom power of the mics, so this set is the straight board feed. Its not optimal for sound quality, but its certainly a good listen. Enjoy!

Stream “Coming Through”:

This recording is now available for download in FLAC and MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The War On Drugs, visit their website, and purchase their latest album Slave Ambient from Secretly Canadian Records [HERE].

I was in college when the landmark ‘The Trinity Session‘ album by Cowboy Junkies was released. Garnering attention with their unique cover of Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane”, I think it’s safe to say that every guy on my dorm floor developed a crush on frontwoman Margo Timmins. Rather than rest on the laurels of that critically lauded disc, this stellar band has continually put out terrific music over the past few decades, bucking trends and cultivating a distinct style on their own terms. Their most recent project, the excellent Nomad Series, continues in that ambitious vein with them having recorded 4 separate albums in 18 months.

This particular night was the last stop on the tour and Cowboy Junkies seemed intent on making it a memorable one [check out guitarist Michael Timmins’ entry from his tour diary HERE]. In the lovely Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center the capacity crowd was treated to two sets of music. With the first being tracks from the Nomad Series and the second consisting of material spanning the group’s career, there were amazing performances in each capped with an intense rendition of (fellow Canadian) Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”. Overall, an outstanding evening.

Thanks to the very helpful and accommodating crew and venue staff, we were able to set up in a nearly ideal location in this wonderful sounding room. We were also blessed with incredibly polite and appreciative attendees. It was truly a pleasure to sit comfortably in a beautiful theater on a Saturday night and not have the music compete with people who would rather talk loudly than enjoy the songs. Combine all these factors and our resultant recording is superb. Enjoy!

Special thanks to Cowboy Junkies, Candace Horgan and Jared Herman for making this recording possible, and to Frank, Eric, Greg and the staff at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center for their courtesy and cooperation.

Stream “Late Night Radio”:

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Stream “200 More Miles”:

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Download the FLAC/MP3 files and stream this entire show on the Live Music Archive [HERE]

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Cowboy Junkies, visit their website, visit their Facebook and MySpace pages, and purchase their official releases and merchandise [HERE].

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nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

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